Stop the abyss of hunger!

As a doctor in the Pacoima area of ​​the San Fernando Valley, most of my patients are in a state of “hunger anxiety,” a classification used to determine the nutritional risks they are exposed to and to link them to resources that can help them.

Hunger and malnutrition worries me because of their impact on health, and as an American Heart Association volunteer, especially cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in the country. Through many nutritional assistance programs, especially CalFresh, I have seen my patients improve their sugar levels, blood pressure, and overall health.

However, this month I am disappointed and concerned that CalFresh has cut emergency aid provided by Congress during the Covid-19 pandemic. My patients’ budget will decrease in order to make a healthy purchase, and I fear that this will seriously affect their health. I’m already seeing more and more young patients with preventable chronic conditions, and I’m afraid this trend will only get worse.

The cuts are estimated to affect 1.5 million Los Angeles County residents. Overnight, the 950,000 households in our neighborhoods made up of low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities will find their ability to buy food limited. It’s a huge and anonymous number, but in between the numbers I see the faces of my patients.

For the average family, the loss will be $82 per month. In households with disabled or elderly people, losses can be as high as $258 per month. In English, they call this situation “hungry rock” because many people will see, one moment after another, that their ability to feed themselves is seriously compromised, it will be like falling into a void.

What we eat and drink throughout our lives has a huge impact on the health of our heart and brain. Our body needs good nutrition to be healthy. The fact that many unhealthy foods are cheaper and more accessible than healthy foods partly explains the epidemics we already have, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

We all know that food prices are skyrocketing and our purchasing power is declining. I worry that families have to choose between food or a roof over their heads, between cheap junk food and more expensive fresh fruits and vegetables. A parent recently told me that it’s cheaper to buy 3 liters of soda than 1 liter of water. However, in the long run, those 3 liters of soda come at a higher cost to both the family and society due to the destruction they can cause to our body and long term medical needs. Lack of understanding of personal and economic costs is blind to all of us.

Rather, it is a vision of sustainable health in our communities that the American Heart Association and, I hope, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will support. It is critical that they continue and increase local investment in healthy eating programs such as Market Match and provide additional dollars to buy fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and grocery stores. The Los Angeles County Roundtable, which brings together public, private and non-profit organizations, recommends this program as a strategy to end food insecurity.

Recognizing that County investment alone cannot meet the needs of the entire food insecure population of Los Angeles, the American Heart Association also supports Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula’s Bill AB 605 to expand and make permanent the California Fruits and Vegetables Supplementary Program.

Achieving equity in food safety requires coordinated and consistent efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. That’s why the American Heart Association is working with other activists like Hunger Action Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Los Angeles Sustainable Economic Enterprises, the Institute for Urban and Environmental Policy at Western College, and legislators to advance policy and programs that promote access to nutritious food.

Anything that ensures access, affordability and consistent and equitable consumption of health-promoting foods must be supported and increased. Otherwise, our communities will pay dearly with more suffering, health problems, and even premature death. Let’s quickly take action and create a safety net to reduce the consequences of falling off a cliff.

Dr. Gloria Monsalve
is a volunteer with the American Heart Association.